Clayton Kershaw still looking to 'have an impact on this season'

LOS ANGELES >> Two weeks ago at the All-Star Game, Clayton Kershaw said he had a timetable in mind for when he would be able to retu from his back injury and pitch for the Dodgers again.

That is gone now.

“I’m just trying get back,” he said Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, speaking with reporters for the first time since his back pain retued following a 60-pitch simulated-game throwing session.

“Obviously I had a little setback. I thought I’d be back sooner but it’s just going to take a little time.”

How much time will it take, Kershaw nor anyone else with the Dodgers is willing – or able – to say. He has not picked up a baseball since the sim game on July 16.

“I definitely did (have a timetable in mind) before and now I’m trying to make it back to have an impact on this season for our team,” he said. “I don’t know what that means exactly. But – yes.

“We have the best trainers and doctors in the world and we’re all collaborating together with (Dodgers President of Baseball Operations) Andrew (Friedman), Doc (Dodgers manager Dave Roberts), myself, (Dodgers general manager) Farhan (Zaidi), all those guys. We’re all talking about what makes sense as a timetable for my health and the team’s benefit. We’re working on all that right now.”

Kershaw received an epidural injection on June 29 after a mild heiation of a disc in his lower back was diagnosed. He said the pain was gone by the time he tried throwing to hitters 10 days ago but retued the following day and “now I have to wait until I feel no pain again.”

“I just knew there was something that was not right. I definitely felt it (after the sim game) where I shouldn’t have felt it,” Kershaw said. “Pitching was obviously the problem. I had crossed a lot of hurdles and did a lot of things I needed to do to get back. Pitching is definitely what gave us the setback.”

And pitching is what Kershaw misses.

“(You) feel like you’re not doing your job. It’s just hard not to pitch. That’s what I love to do,” he said. “You realize how much you love the game when you’re away from it and how much you take it for granted. I leaed that. Being healthy is something that really is a blessing. It’s something that you really can’t take for granted. It’s hard to be away but I understand and I’m just trying to be patient.”

Ethier progress

Andre Ethier can more than sympathize with Kershaw’s frustration at being sidelined. But the Dodgers outfielder took another step forward in his attempt to retu from a spiral fracture of the tibia in his right shin by taking batting practice on the field at Dodger Stadium for the first time since the injury.

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Ethier has not played since fouling a ball off his shin during a spring training game in March but remains committed to making it back this season.

“That’s the plan. That’s why I’m still working. That’s why I come in here every day and do my stuff,” he said Tuesday. “I’m trying to keep that mental edge and focus on that side of me, to know that I’m coming back and playing – that belief and not just washing my hands of the year and saying I’ll get them next year.

“I wouldn’t be going through what I’m going through every day if I didn’t believe and think I was coming back.”

A scan of Ethier’s tibia 10 days ago showed that the fracture had not completely healed. But Ethier has been told he can increase his activity based on pain tolerance. He said there is still pain when he does certain actions or movements but “now they’re lasting maybe minutes” instead of a day or two.

Puig faces potential fine

Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has wo American- and Cuban-flag themed cleats this season.

But after he wore cleats during a game in Arizona eight days ago that had Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully’s face painted on them, Puig received a letter from Major League Baseball waing him that he would be subject to a $5,000 fine if he wore them again.

The letter from Joe Garagiola Jr., MLB’s senior vice president of standards and on-field operations, advised Puig that the cleats did not conform to MLB’s uniform rules.

In his locker, Puig has a pair of cleats with the Statue of Liberty painted across the heels. He plans to wear them when the Dodgers play at Yankee Stadium in September — if he can get approval from MLB.

Just getting back on the field is Puig’s more immediate conce. He was not in the starting lineup Tuesday for a fifth consecutive game. He has been limited to pinch-hit appearances Thursday and Friday since leaving Wednesday’s game in Washington with tightness in his right hamstring.

Puig said the hamstring has improved and he did some running drills on the field before Tuesday’s game including sprinting from first to second base. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Puig was available to pinch hit but is not ready to get back in the lineup and a trip to the DL remains a possibility.

“We’ll make that decision maybe (Wednesday),” Roberts said before Tuesday’s game.

“Right now, we’ve got four starters (with the rotation shortened due to off days) and coverage in the ‘pen, five guys on the bench. It’s not a make-or-break right now. He did run today and felt better than he did on Sunday. He’s available (Tuesday) but, for me, it’s not to the point I want him in there.”

Notes

With the trade deadline just days away, the Dodgers had a scout covering the A’s-Rangers game Tuesday with eyes on the Royals and Marlins as well. … Julio Urias’ scoreless innings streak in the Pacific Coast League ended at 29 when he gave up two runs in the second inning of a relief appearance for Triple-A Oklahoma City Tuesday night. It was Urias’ first game action since he started for the Dodgers in Washington on Thursday.

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